Garment support



June 25, 1968 E. N. MANNING ETAL.

GARMENT SUPPORT Filed May 31, 1966 jnuenzo/"s Ewan MAlann/ng H.3ewa/Llien derson fl/zo rn ey United States Patent 3,389,807 GARMENT SUPPORT Evan N. Manning and R. Sewall Henderson, both of 13736 Mulberry Drive, Whittier, Calif. 90605 Filed May 31, 1966, Ser. No. 553,761 Claims. (Cl. 211-94) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An axially extensible clothing support structure including, an elongate horizontal rail member with front and rear ends, mounting means to secure said member to an overhead structure, a carriage with front and rear rollers normally arranged adjacent the rear end of the rail member with said rollers engaging the said member and shiftable forwardly relative thereto, an elongate load supporting beam fixed to and projecting forwardly from the. carriage to normally occur in spaced parallel relationship below the rail member and adapted to project freely forwardly beyond the front end of said rail member when said carriage is shifted forward, and combined stop and support means at the front end of the rail and beam to limit forward shifting of the carriage relative to the rail member and to normally releasably engage and support the front end of the beam.

This invention has to do with a garment support and is more particularly concerned with an extensible or shiftable support for mounting within a closet or wardrobe and on or with which clothes hangers and the like can be engaged, to normally occur within a closet and shiftable to occur outside of the closet and to provide easy and convenient access to clothing supported thereby.

It is an object of this invention to provide a structure of the general character referred to having an upper, horizontal rail for mounting in a closet on an axis normal to the opening to said closet; a carriage on a rail and shiftable from a normal position where it occurs at the rear of the closet and rail, remote from the closet opening, to an actuated or extended position where it occurs at the front of the rail and a cantilever support beam fixed to and projecting forwardly from the carriage to normally occur within the closet and below the rail and shiftable to project forwardly beyond the front end of the rail and outward from the closet opening.

Another object of our invention is to provide a structure of the character referred to having novel stop and/ or support means between the front and rear ends of the rail and the beam to limit rearward movement of the beam and carriage and to releasably support the beam at its front and rear ends when the structure is in its normal position, whereby the beam is not normally cantilevered in such a manner as to be bent or sprung by the load which it supports and in such a manner as might impart a permanent adverse effect in construction.

It is an object of our invention to provide a structure of the character referred to which is neat, rugged, durable and dependable in operation and a structure which is easy and economical to manufacture and to install.

The various objects and features of our invention will be fully understood from the following detailed description of a typical preferred form and application of our invention, throughout which description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of our new construction, showing it installed in a closet structure and in an extended position;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of our structure, showing it in its normal position;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 2 with the parts thereof in their extended position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken as indicated by line 4-4 on FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an end plate provided by our invention.

The support structure A that we provide includes generally, an elongate rail R, a carriage C shiftably supported by the rail R, a support beam B, carried by the carriage C, an end plate P on the beam B and stop means S.

The support structure A is adapted to be arranged adjacent and mounted on the underside of a shelf, ceiling or other suitable overhead structure in a closet or wardrobe in a dwelling or the like.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, we have shown the structure fixed to the ceiling 10 in a closet 11, which closet is shown as having a rear wall 12, side walls 13 and front opening 14. The front opening 14, can, in accordance with common practice, be provided with a door closure (not shown).

The rail member R is an elongate roll-formed steel section or extruded aluminium section having front and rear ends 20 and 21, a fiat, horizontal top wall 22, laterally spaced, longitudinally extending side Walls 23 depending from the side edges of the top wall, and a pair of laterally inwardly projecting, horizontal, flange-like rails 24 formed integrally with and extending along the lower edges of the side walls.

The laterally spaced inner opposing edges of the rails 24 are provided with upwardly projecting, longitudinal retaining lips 25.

In addition to the foregoing, the rail R is provided with two or more elongate, laterally extending, mounting straps 26, secured to the top Wall 22 in longitudinal spaced relationship and projecting laterally from the opposite sides of the rail member. The straps are fixed to the rail member as by rivets 27 and are provided with openings in their opposite end portions to receive screw fasteners 28 to secure the rail member to a support structure, such as the ceiling 10in the closet 11.

Still further, the rail R is provided with laterally extending front and rear stop bars 29 and 29' at its opposite ends to extend between the rails 24 and bridge the free gaps established thereby.

The stop bars serve to reinforce the structure and prevent lateral outward spreading of the rails 24 and side walls 23 and also serve to establish elements of the stop means S, to limit longitudinal movement of the carriage C and its related beam B, and to support the carriage and beam when the construction is in its normal position, as will hereinafter be described.

The bars 29 and 29' are simple, elongate metal bars, rectangular in cross-section. The bars extend transverse the lower sides of the rails to bridge the free gap defined thereby and have their opposite end portions fixed to the rails as by rivet fasteners.

The carriage C is an elongate, longitudinally extending, flat cast metal part arranged in a vertical plane between the rails 24 of the rail member R and have an upper body portion 30 with horizontal top and bottom edges 31 and 32 and vertical front and rear ends 33 and 34. The upper and lower edges 31 and 32 occur in spaced relationship below the top wall 22 and the rails 24 of the member R.

The carriage C is further provided with depending front and rear legs 35 and 36. The front leg 35 is provided with a longitudinally extending mounting tab 37 at its lower end to engage the beam B, as will hereinafter be described.

The rear leg 36 is provided wtih an enlargement 38 at its lower end defining a longitudinally forwardly opening beam receiving socket 39.

In addition to the foregoing, the carriageris provided with front and rear sets or pairs of support rollers 40 and 41, which rollers occur within the confines of the beam member B at opposite sides of the carriage.

The rollers are spaced from the top wall 22 and the rails 24 when the structure is in its normal position, as illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. When the structure is extended or shifted from its normal position, the carriage and beam are canted slightly so that the rear set of rollers 31 engage and bear upwardly against the top wall 22 and the forward set of rollers 30 bear downwardly against the rails 24 of the member R, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawings.

It is to be understood that the clearance between the rollers and the member R in FIG. 2 of the drawings and the extent or the degree at which the carriage and beam are canted, in FIG. 3 of the drawings, is extreme and exaggerated for the purpose of illustration. In practice, the referred to clearance is diminimus and may, in fact, be so slight as to constitute non-load transmitting contact between the related parts. Accordingly, the extent of canting of the carriage and beam may be less than one degree.

The rollers 40 and 41 are shown as anti-friction type rollers having central hub portions 42 carried by axle pins 33 engaged through the body portion of the carriage and outer wheel or roller parts 34. The lower portion of the wheel parts 34 are arranged between and are guided by the side walls 23 and the lips 25 of their related rails.

In addition to the foregoing, the body portion of the carriage C is provided with a notch 45, which notch is a part of feature of the means S. The notch is adapted to cooperate with the rear stop bar 29'.

The notch 45 is in the rear edge 34 of the carriage and opens rearwardly. The notch is adapted to receive the bar 29' and has a flat, horizontal, vertically spaced top and bottom surface 46 to establish flat bearing and supporting engagement on the top and bottom surfaces of the bar.

The rear open end portion of the notch is relieved as at 47 to define longitudinally rearwardly divergent cam surfaces to engage and guide the bar into seated and stopped engagement in the notch, when the construction is shifted from an extended position to its normal position.

The bottom surface 46 of the notch and the opposite bottom surface of the bar are spaced vertically relative to the axis of the rear rollers 41 so that when the bar is fully engaged in the notch, the rear end of the carriage is urged slightly downwardly to remove the load on the rear rollers and to transmit it onto the bar.

With the above relationship of parts, silent operating plastic or rubber rollers, or rollers having plastic or rubber parts can be advantageously employed without the danger of the plastic or rubber parts being subjected to static loads, over-prolonged periods of time, with resulting distortion and/or breakage of the rollers.

The beam B is an elongate, horizontal load supporting member, substantially equal in longitudinal extent with the rail member R and has front and rear ends. The beam B can be of any desired cross-sectional extent and configuration. In the case illustrated, the beam is a tubular member, square in cross-section.

The rear end of the beam B is slidably engaged in the socket 39 of the carriage C, which socket is formed to cooperatively receive the rear end of the beam. The beam is held in fixed position in the socket by a suitable screw fastener 50.

The mounting tab 37 on the front leg of the carriage engages the top of the beam and is fixed thereto by a fastener 51.

The beam projects freely forwardly from the carriage in vertically spaced parallel relationship below the rail member and provides a member or part over which clothes hanger hooks and the like can be engaged and supported.

When the structure is in its normal position, the front end of the beam terminates below the front end of. the

4 rail member and occurs wholly within the closet. When the structure is in its extended position and the carriage is shifted to the front end of the rail member R, the beam projects substantially horizontally and freely forward from the rail member and projects out and through the front opening of the closet 11.

The front plate P that we provide is engaged on the front end of the beam B and is adapted to cover the forward end of the beam B; to normally overlie and cover the front end of the rail member R; to act as a stop and prevent clothes hangers H and the like from shifting forward and out of engagement with the beam; to carry a handle for operating the construction; and to carry or provide parts and/ or portions of the stop means S.

The plate P has a fiat, vertical, plate-like body 60 with flat, front and rear surfaces 61 and 62.

The lower portion of the rear surface 62 of the plate is provided with a rearwardly projecting boss or enlargement 63 defining a rearwardly opening beam receiving socket 64 in which the front end of the beam B is engaged. The beam is fixed in said socket 64 by a suitable fastener 65.

Extending upwardly from the enlargement 63 and projecting it rearwardly from the rear surface 62 of the plate is a central vertical web 66, which web reinforces the plate; is adapted to enter the free gap between the rails of the member R, at the forward end of said member and is provided with and/or defines a rearwardly opening stop bar receiving notch 67, similar to the notch 45 in the carriage and in which the front stop bar 29, at the front end of the member R is normally engaged and seated.

The notch 67, like the notch 45, is relieved as at 68 to provide cam surfaces to guide the bar 69 into seated and stopped engagement in said notch. The notch 67 and its related bar 29 are positioned in the same horizontal plane as the notch 46 and its related bar 29'.

It will be apparent that when the structure is in its extended position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings, the front end of the beam is unsupported and the entire load carried thereby is transmitted onto the rail member R through the carriage.

The beam B is cantilevered and, in practice, the front end thereof may be temporarily flexed downwardly.

When a structure is in its normal position, as illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the beam is not cantilevered, but rather, the front end of the beam is held up and is supported from the front end of the rail member by and through the plate P and the means S related thereto.

Elevation and support of the front end of the beam by and through the notch 67 and bar 29' unloads the front rollers 40.

The front surface 61 of the plate B is provided with a manually engageable handle 70, which handle can be formed integrally with the plate or can be a separate part suitably fastened thereto. In the preferred carrying out of the invention, the handle 70 is formed so that it can be used or employed as a coat hook and can also be established in the form of a loop-like part in or with which the hook of a clothes hanger can be advantageously engaged.

It is to be noted that, in practice, when steel rollers are employed or when rollers of plastic material, or the like, are employed and which are not subject to being adversely affected by prolonged static loads, the stop means S at the rear end of the beam B and rail R, or at least the vertical load-receiving function thereof, can be dispensed with, in which case, the rollers of the carriage provide the continuous and sole support for the carriage and the rear end of the beam B.

The carriage C is provided with a body portion spaced above the beam and with longitudinally spaced leg portions so that the said body portion, legs and beam cooperate to define a window-like opening through which clothes hangers and the like can be engaged. With this relationship of parts, substantially the entire longitudinal extent of the beam is serviceable for supporting clothes hangers and the like.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of our invention, we do not wish to be limited to the specific details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to ourselves any modifications and/ or variations that may appear to those skilled in the art and which fall within the scope of the following claims:

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. An axially extensible clothing support structure of the character referred to including, an elongate horizontal rail member with front and rear ends, mounting means on said rail member to secure said member to an overhead structure, a carriage with front and rear rollers normally arranged adjacent the rear end of the rail member with said rollers engaging said member and shiftable forwardly relative thereto, an elongate load supporting beam fixed to and projecting forwardly from the carriage to normally occur in spaced parallel relationship below the rail member and adapted to project freely forwardly beyond the front end of said rail member when said carriage is shifted forward, and stop means at the forward end of the rail member to engage and limit forward shifting of the carriage relative to the rail member and to normally releasably engage a part on the front end of the beam to support the front end of the beam.

2. A structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein said stop means includes, a stop bar fixed on the front end of the rail member, a part on the front end of the beam with a rearwardly opening notch slidably receiving the bar when the carriage and the beam are shifted rearwardly to the normal position.

3. A structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein said stop means includes, a rear stop bar fixed to the rear end of the rail member to engage and stop the carriage when the carriage is shifted rearward to its normal position, a front stop bar fixed to the front end of the frame, a part fixed to the front end of the beam and engaging the front stop bar when the carriage and beam are in their normal position, said part having a rearwardly opening notch to normally receive the front bar and having a downwardly disposed surface to normally engage an upwardly disposed surface on the front stop bar.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 1, wherein said stop means includes, a rear stop bar fixed to the rear end of the rail member to engage and stop the carriage when the carriage is shifted rearward to its normal position, a front stop bar fixed to the front end of the beam and engaging the front stop bar when the carriage and beam are in their normal position, said part and said carriage having rearwardly opening notches to normally receive the front and rear stop bars, said notches having downwardly disposed surfaces to normally engage upwardly disposed surfaces on the bars, said rear bar and its related notch being spaced vertically relative to the axis of the rollers whereby the rollers are shifted out of load supporting engagement with the rail member when the structure is in its normal position.

5. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop means includes, a stop bar fixed on the front end of the rail member, a part on the front end of the beam with a rearwardly opening notch slidably receiving the bar when the carriage and the beam are shifted rearwardly to the normal position, said notch having a fiat, downwardly disposed surface to engage an upwardly disposed surface on the bar and having a cam surface extending upwardly and rearwardly from said flat surface to engage and guide the bar into engagement with said fiat surface when the bar is moved into engagement in the notch.

6. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop means includes, a rear stop bar fixed to the rear end of the rail member to engage and stop the carriage when the carriage is shifted rearward to its normal position, a front stop bar fixed to the front end of the frame, a part fixed to the front end of the frame, a part fixed to the front end of the beam and engaging the front stop bar when the carriage and beam are in their normal position, said part and said carriage having rearwardly opening notches to normally receive the front and rear stop bars, said notches having downwardly disposed surfaces to normally engage upwardly disposed surfaces on the bars, said rear bar and its related notch being spaced vertically relative to the axis of the rollers whereby the rollers are shifted out of load-supporting engagement with the rail member when the structure is in its normal position, said notches having cam surfaces extending rearwardly and upwardly from said downwardly disposed surfaces to engage and guide the bars into the notches and into engagement with said downwardly disposed surfaces.

7. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop means includes, a stop bar fixed to the front end of the rail member, a part on the front end of the beam with a rearwardly opening notch slidably receiving the bar when the carriage and the beam are shifted rearwardly to the normal position, said rail member having a flat top wall and a pair of laterally spaced parallel rails in spaced relationship below the top wall and defining a longitudinal free gap, said carriage having a portion projecting upwardly through the free gap and carrying said front and rear rollers, therebeing a rear roller on each side of the carriage to engage the top wall of the rail member, there being a front roller on each side of the carriage to engage the adjacent rail of the rail member and spaced forward of the rear roller.

8. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop means includes, a rear stop bar fixed to the rear end of the rail member to engage and stop the carriage when the carriage is shifted rearward to its normal position, a front stop bar fixed to the front end of the frame, a part fixed to the front end of the beam and engaging the front stop bar when the carriage and beam are in their normal position, said part and said carriage having rearwardly opening notches to normally receive the front and rear stop bars, said notches having downwardly disposed surfaces to normally engage upwardly disposed surfaces on the bars, said rear bar and its related notch being spaced vertically relative to the axis of the rollers whereby the rollers are shifted out of load-supporting engagement with the rail member when the structure is in its normal position, said rail member having a flat top wall and a pair of laterally spaced, parallel rails in spaced relationship below the top wall and defining a longitudinal free gap,

' said carriage having a portion projecting upwardly through the free gap and carrying said front and rear rollers, there being a rear roller on each side of the carriage to engage the top wall of the rail member, there being a front roller on each side of the carriage to engage the adjacent rail of the rail member and spaced forward of the near roller.

9. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop means includes, a stop bar fixed on the front end of the rail member, a part on the front end of the beam with a rearwardly opening notch slidably receiving the bar when the carriage and the beam are shifted rearwardly to the normal position, said notch having a flat downwardly disposed surface to engage an upwardly disposed surface on the bar and having a cam surface extend-ing upwardly and rearwardly from said fiat surface to engage and guide the bar into engagement with said fiat surface when the bar is moved into engagement in the notch, said rail member having a flat top wall and a pair of laterally spaced, parallel rails in spaced relationship below the top wall and defining a longitudinal free gap, said carriage having a portion projecting upwardly through the free gap and carrying said front and rear rollers, there being a rear roller on each side of the carriage to engage the adjacent rail of the rail member and spaced forward of the rear roller.

10. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop means includes, a rear stop bar fixed to the rear end of the rail member to engage and stop the carriage when the carriage is shifted rearward to its normal position, a front stop bar fixed to the front end of the frame, a part fixed to the front end of the frame, a part fixed to the front end of the beam and engaging the front stop bar when the carriage and beam are in their normal position, said part and said carriage having rearwardly opening notches to normally engage upwardly disposed surfaces on the bars, said rear bar and its related notch being spaced vertically relative to the axis of the rollers whereby the rollers are shifted out of load-supporting engagement with the rail member when the structure is in its normal posit-ion, said notches having cam surfaces extending rearwardly and upwardly from said downwardly disposed surfaces to engage and guide the bars into the notches and into engagement with said downwardly disposed surfaces, said rail member having a flat top wall and pair of laterally spaced, parallel rails in spaced relationship below the top wall and defining a longitudinal free gap, said carriage having a portion projecting upwardly through the free gap and carrying said front and rear rollers, there being a rear roller on each side of the carriage to engage the top wall of the rail member, there being a front roller on each side of the carriage to engage the adjacent rail of the rail member and spaced forward of the rear roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 837,646 12/ 1906 Sjostrom 211-94 841,261 1/1907 Mancha 21194 977,573 12/1910 Vanderveld 211-94 1,674,758 6/1928 Batts 21194 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,035,263 8/ 1953 France.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

